Person smoking

You must have heard about it: second-hand high. Your neighbor thinks that she gets high from your weed smoke. Or a friend at a festival gets dizzy because a hippie next to him smokes a joint.

Can you really get stoned from secondhand smoke? Is the intoxicating effect of cannabis so strong that you can even get high from the smoke in your area?

Well, it depends.

Stories are known of people who are convinced that it is possible. But it is very unlikely that you could get stoned only by breathing someone else's smoke.

What is more likely is that it is the placebo effect.

If it is really your intention to get high from secondhand smoke, you will have to do your very best for that. To start with, you need verty strong weed. After all, before the smoke enters your lungs, the weed has already come a long way and will become less and less compact. The active substances will then also have less effect.

You must have heard about it

You will also have to smoke in a small, enclosed space. This phenomenon is also called hotboxing. Hot boxing can, for example, be done in a small room, on the toilet, or in a car. Because the smoke fills the small space, the narcotic effect is increased.

You understand that if there is an airflow or ventilation, the effect of hotboxing is gone. Hot boxing also requires a lot of smoke.

When you are outside there is just not enough smoke to get a second-hand high.

For a second hand, high large amounts of smoke will be required. Outside (at a music festival, BBQ party in someone's backyard, or if you are waiting at the bus stop) it is simply not possible to breathe in enough secondhand smoke to feel any effect.